Delhi HC wants CBSE to keep students informed about the delayed exam schedule

• The Delhi High Court has asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to chalk out an alternate long-term plan for examinations in affected areas.
  
• The court said that the students need to know the schedule for the next 15 days in advance, and not on a ‘piecemeal’ basis.
  
• Earlier, the board also called off the Class X and Class XII exams that were supposed to take place on February 26.
  
• The death toll swelled to 27 on February 27, while nearly 200 people are reportedly injured.

After three days of violence, the residents in North East Delhi are still under a blanket of fear and uncertainty. While there was no violence reported on February 26, normalcy is yet to resume in the affected areas.

Given the situation, the Delhi High Court has now asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to chalk out an alternate long-term plan for examinations in these areas, which were postponed yesterday.

“The situation there (northeast Delhi) is only getting worse. There have been more deaths. You should give time for the situation to settle down," Justice Rajiv Shakdher said. The death toll swelled to 27 on February 27, while nearly 200 people are reportedly injured.

The court said that the students need to know the schedule for the next 15 days in advance, and not on a ‘piecemeal’ basis. “Look at all alternatives, especially with regard to Class XII," the court said adding that the police can not be solely guarding the exam centres as it has to control violence as well.

“Police is already hard-pressed. How will they monitor schools only? What if there is a flash riot somewhere, then the police will be in a dilemma whether to leave school or not," the court stressed.

The directions came after a private school, Bhai Parmanand Vidya Mandir, at Surya Niketan in east Delhi said that its students have been allotted CBSE centres that are approximately 16 kilometres away, on the Chandu Nagar-Karawal Nagar road — and it takes at least 40 minutes to reach there.

The court then said that the safety if children can not be compromised.

Earlier, the board also called off the Class X and Class XII exams that were supposed to take place on February 26.

The exam was scheduled across 86 centres in North East Delhi — both government and private schools. Class X students were supposed to sit down for an English exam while Class XII students had a web applications exam.

However, the new dates have not been informed yet.

Before this, there have been at least three such incidences where the schools were shut in Delhi. The schools remained shut in the North East Delhi for two days as the situation was still tense.

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